ZooNation stage hip hop Wizard of Oz for Southbank summer season

The Southbank Centre has unveiled its summer season, entitled Festival of Neighbourhood, which runs for four months until 8 September 2013.

Celebrating the "idea of neighbourhood and what it means to live side by side", the season features the world premiere of ZooNation's Groove On Down The Road, a twist on The Wizard of Oz.

Running from 10 August to 1 September 2013, the hip-hop dance production will include music from film The Wiz re-mixed with current hits by DJ Walde. The company is made up of ZooYouth, a company of dancers all under the age of 19.

ZooNation's credits include the multi award-winning Into the Hoods and current show Some Like It Hip Hop.

The season also includes Timber!, the UK company debut from family circus troupe Cirque Alfonse, which will run from 10-31 July 2013. Set to traditional music, the show features aerial acrobatics and stunts with lumberjack saws alongside "clog-dancing, tight-rope walking, cooking, vegetable chopping and storytelling".

London Wonderground’s headline show this year is Limbo, running until 29 September. From the creators of previous years’ Cantina and Tom Tom Crew, it features circus, magic and dance.

August will see the return of two children’s shows to the venue. Offering storytelling for younger children, The Queen’s Knickers runs from 6-20 August, followed by The Man Who Planted Trees, a blend of comedy, puppetry and storytelling with multisensory elements, which runs from 22 August-1 September.

There will also be a series of performances, talks and debates to celebrate the communities of Vauxhall, urban arts and queer culture, as well as shows from The Tiger Lillies and Québec’s L’Orchestre d’Hommes-Orchestres.

Wendy Martin, Head of Performance and Dance at Southbank Centre said of the season: “It’s been such an exciting journey shaping a summer season to appeal to our many Southbank Centre audiences.”

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